Whatever was said and done in the Georgia locker room at halftime yesterday, Mark Richt needs to gather that all together, crumple it into a little ball, douse it with gasoline, set it on fire and bury the ashes at sea. Boy, what a letdown.

My question from watching that game isn’t whether Georgia had to play perfectly to beat an excellent LSU team – Georgia, after all, was winning 10-0 mid-second quarter despite two brutal whiffs on touchdown passes by King and Mitchell – but whether Georgia’s best effort of the year would have been enough to pull off the upset.

We’ll never know, of course, but that halftime lead, the only one which LSU has faced the entire season, suggests it would have at least been a close call. That it never came to that in the end I think boiled down to three key spots in the game:

Georgia’s second series of the second quarter. I don’t know if was the result of the Dawgs’ worst field position of the game up to that point, lack of faith in the receivers after numerous drops, a desire to shorten the first half or complete faith in what Grantham’s defense was doing, but Bobo’s play selection was a disaster. Two Crowell runs that were easily stuffed for little gain and a slow developing pass play which resulted in a huge sack put Georgia back at its own three for a punt. Up until then, Bobo had been aggressive, calling for passes on first down frequently; if he didn’t have Chavis back on his heels, he at least had him guessing. The only first down Georgia gained over the rest of the first half was via a personal foul penalty and the Dawgs wouldn’t get their next one until the waning moments of the third quarter with the game already out of hand.

Touchdown, Tyrann Mathieu. This, of course, was Georgia’s immediate reward for Bobo’s play calls. Given its special teams struggles over the season, punting to Mathieu with Butler standing on the end line was a risky proposition to begin with, but with the way the Dawgs’ defense was playing, ignoring the lower risk strategy of a kick towards the sidelines was unnecessary. It was Russian roulette and the gun went off in Georgia’s face. It didn’t cost Georgia the lead, but you could sense the energy and confidence sliding back to LSU’s side of the stadium in the aftermath.

The Murray fumble. Statistically speaking, Aaron Murray is going to enjoy a better career at Georgia than David Greene, but Greene is still my gold standard for Georgia quarterbacks of the Richt era simply because he learned early on about playing within himself and not trying to do too much. That’s a lesson Murray hasn’t learned yet (to be fair, it’s one that Shockley and Stafford struggled with, too). You can’t help but love his competitiveness but that desire to make something happen when everyone around him isn’t gets him in trouble,and such was the case on the opening series of the second half. Not only was it a huge momentum shift at the worst possible time, but it also served to throw the defense’s mindset, which had been rock solid in the first half, completely out of sync. Ten minutes later, the game was over.

I’m not in the mood to bore you with my usual series of bullet points. Instead, I’ll leave you with some of my feelings walking out of the Dome.

It’s been a good year for Georgia football. Richt has righted the ship. This team proved in the first half that it deserved to be in the SECCG. And the loss, while certainly disappointing, can serve to be a platform for better days.

There are plenty of lessons to be learned. Some are pretty obvious: the running game needs shoring up with better (and more reliable) personnel, depth is a high priority on the offensive line and special teams personnel also needs upgrading (huge difference in speed between LSU’s coverage teams and Georgia’s). That’s all fixable with continued success on the recruiting front. And strength and conditioning, while improved, still has a ways to go.

But the biggest challenge that lies ahead is about attitude. This team learned how to compete again. Now it needs to learn how to finish. It’s good enough to take off a play or two and still whip Georgia Tech. And it can survive losing its cool against an improving Vanderbilt team. But not giving your best 100% of the time against a beast like LSU… well, that gets you beat by 32 points. If Georgia’s players and coaches want to return the program to the élite status it enjoyed a few years ago, that’s the biggest thing they need to absorb from yesterday’s loss.

If I’m Greg McGarity, that’s the discussion I’m having with my head football coach in the upcoming weeks. After mentioning how much I enjoyed watching the defense’s play in the first half, of course.

197 responses to “Semi-tough: Observations from the goal line”

The hardest part for me to stomach was how it seemed like we just laid down and quit. Maybe that was a result of losing faith in the offense after CMB seemed to go conservative in the second quarter combined with a reenergized LSU team.

After a spectacular first half, the defense was a let down in the second half as well. Even after Murray fumble I thought we would be able to stuff them for a FG.

I knew we had to play a perfect game. The fumble, two INTs, dropped passes, and horrific punt coverage put an end to our SECC hopes.

And seemed to tire out. I saw limping, hands on hips and slow motion movements of an exhausted group. S&C could be better but I think the fatal flaw in the entire game was our lack of quality depth across the board. They simply wore us down.

This, of course. More than play calling which did not meet our standards (Although I have never understood exactly what those are…plays that work are good calls, plays that don’t, whatever the reason are bad calls.)

LSU played at least 10 or 12 defensive linemen during the game. We played five.

But, of course, Mike Bobo should be fired because of our lack of depth on the defensive line.

Ah Scorpio you have stumbled upon the quintessential standard for criticizing an offensive coordinator: if a play works it is a good call, if it does not work it is a bad call. Go over and read the in-game posts at dawgsports sometimes it is hilarious in how much it verifies that view point. If we throw a deep pass on first down and it works, it goes something like this: “Yesssssssssssss! Go Tavarres Go!”; “Touchdown baaaaaaabbbbbbyyyyyy!” no one says, “boy what a bad call, but I’ll take the TD”. If it does not work its more like this…”First and bomb, great call Bobo, chump.”; “Why not try and establish a ground game there so we don’t have second and long” blah, blah, blah.

LSU’s relentlessness comes from the depth. One team could stand up to its offense not moving the ball for half the game and the other could not. And that’s why Alabama and LSU are better than everyone else in the country.

As an outsider, I agree with you–the U.Ga. defense seemed to lose its focus and its confidence. LSU’s entire team seemed to sharpen its focus and confidence. I think the Dogs played hard and didn’t quit.

You can place Georgia’s offensive woes on attrition and poor coaching from a former assistant. I am sorry but Carlton Thomas, Richard Samuel and Brandon Harton are not SEC caliber tailbacks. The dismissal of Meshaun Ealey and Dontavious Jackson coupled with the ignorance of Caleb King put Georgia in a huge hole from a depth standpoint.

The offensive line coaching and talent evaluation under Stacy Searles was a complete joke. We have been reduced to four guards and a center for an offensive line. I’m pretty sure that given the time, Will Friend will return the Georgia offensive line into an elite pro style offensive line.

All in all I am pleased with the progress this year. We need some depth at running back and OT. As it stands right now, we have no elite offensive tackles on the roster. For the style of offense we run, that is a huge problem. Thank you, Stacy Searles.

Yea. Thanks Red. And thanks go to Bluto who put up more material than possible to follow and comment on Fri..

Not sour grapes, but LS Lieux held like they were in love with our receivers after the ball was in the air while the refs stared at and did not call it. Did anyone notice that IGA receivers only looked questioning toward the refs using their hands, but no hanky-snatching drivel mimicry. That affected our O as much as dropped passes. Jus’ sayin’.

They still will be fun to watch in the bowl. It will be interesting to watch the recruiting and follow the summer prep after the Spring Game. Go Dawgs! and thanks for picking it up last summer. Knowing we are better than our record, the insertion of Rome and Drew next year and the buildup to next season will capture our interest and , I imagine , will make for good blog-cheering and discussion.

No sour grapes but . . . Does anybody else feel like bama and lsu have about 25% more players than the rest of us. Is this the fruit of oversigning? And if so why don’t we get on board ? Seriously. Do u think guys prima dona when they know there are 3 more just as good and somebody has to go? I feel like ga got beat by a roster yesterday. Not scheme not execution by lsu, just a huge army of athletes with endless reinforcements.

Take away the extra players and we still get beat…that’s a good team. But we handle discipline differently, recruiting differently, graduation rates differently, etc. They do it their way to win. We do it our way because it’s right. When the standards aren’t the same, don’t expect fair and equal outcomes.

I disagree. We have over 100 guys on the roster, same as most other teams. We’ve got to build depth and strength.

Look at Mike Gilliard. The only reason he got to start and play early on was because of injuries. Turns out he was pretty good. We’ve got other guys like him on the sidelines. We just need to continue to evaluate them and develop them. We’ll get there.

Oversigning is the elephant in the room regarding quality depth, imo. I still don’t want UGA to go down that path by exploiting recruits and players, but the NCAA/SEC offices need to curtail this practice by setting standards that must be adhered to. I recommend allowing everyone to oversign by 2-3 to allow for attrition AND allow them to keep those extra signees of they are able to keep everyone eligible. This isn’t a whine, but we may have the same number of players with a uni, but we are way below the “real” scholly numbers, and we were in August/September.

The game was won by LSU last night for two reasons: 1) OL could not block well enough even if we had every running back on hand for the last two years and, 2) our ST coverage and blocking is totally unacceptable. Everyone can stretch and try to blame Bobo for a paly call here or there (what team couldn’t after the fact), but the coaches did not lose this game. UGA had a chance, we squandered it. Even this close to a emotional game where we went from the mountain top to the pits, I still like the direction we are heading.

As usual, spot on Senator. I’m too dazed as well to dwell on deep analysis at this point. Scratching my head about CMB’s decisions and lack of depth in key positions were fatal flaws in both games at the Dome.

It’s been a very good season…better than most expected, and showed promise for the future. But I hope both the AD and HC are truly able to see the situation for what it is, and commit to further improvement. To sit back now and just recruit “5 stars” thinking that’s all that is missing would be tragic.

The way the team prepares and shows up for the bowl game will show how much things have been turned around. Showing up each day for practice with a sense of urgency and playing the game with passion will truly demonstrate that things are back on track. I believe (hope) they are, but the next month will be a critical time for both the staff and the future of this particular set of returning players.

1. The blocks in the back on the punt return. Yes, it was stupid to punt the ball right to the guy, but if the refs do their job, we go into the half up at least 10-0.

2. The Murray fumble. You summed it up perfectly, Senator. All Murray has to do is not f*ck it up. A punt was a win in that game. And then he f*cked it up by trying to be a hero again.

3. The horse collar on Cornelius Washington. Pretty much summed up the 2nd half. We finally made a great play to stop them and it ends up being one of their better offensive plays of the night.

I still have no idea what happened. Strangest game I have ever seen. Only thing I can compare it to is that ’96 or ’97 UK basketball team with Mercer, Delk, Walker, etc, when you were playing even with them for 8 minutes and look up and your suddenly down by 10 without them or you really doing anything of note.

The result of the game was why i had been hoping all year that Scu would have to be the recipient of that beatdown last night. Everything good that happened throughout the season must now be called into question. Murray once again pissed his pants in an important game. The dropsies came out for the first time this season. Bobo rolled over and freaked out as soon as the going got tough. This team would have been a lot better off not playing in this game, beating up on some mediocre Big 10 team in a bowl game and going into next year riding high. Now, all of the warts that had been hidden for 10 weeks are fully exposed again and we have to wonder if they will somehow gain the mental fortitude to overcome them next year?

Yeah, trying to run up-field on a closing pocket to pick up big first down on a critical second half opening drive is “f*ck(ing) it up by trying to be a hero” and the 14pts of dropped passes, along with other drops, were sign that he “once again pissed his pants in an important game.” Great analysis.

Gary Danielson made one decent point all night. At one point when Murray took off he yelled, “just slide.” The kid just needs to learn that with a defense as good as UGA’s, a punt it not a bad thing.

As soon as we lost the field position battle, we lost the game. LSU completed 5 passes. They had two drives of over 36 yards, both of which were late in the game. Murray has to learn to understand the concept of time and place within the framework of the game being played. Last night was a battle of attrition, and failed to grasp the importance of field position.

Agreed, but if he slides there < 2yds shy of the sticks then people in the stands and on the boards are talking about a lack of heart and unwillingness to lay it on the line in an SECCG. Trying to "be a hero" would be throwing into triple coverage or be Fran Tarkenton and scrambling 30yds deep only to get sacked. Murray, with his mistakes yesterday, was NOT the problem and he hardly "pissed his pants" or "fucked it up."

“Trying to be a hero” suggests a level of ego to Murray that I don’t think is a fair characterization. To me, the kid’s been a consummate team player. He just tried to do too much there. You hope he learns from it.

Get a running game that you can count on and the rest will take care of itself. Once their d-line took away the run in the second quarter it was over and nothing grantham, richt or bobo could say or do was going to change the outcome. I just hope that IC gets it together mentally and physically and that he and Marshall can carry the load in 2012. If so we’ll be playing in this game next year.

Depth, depth, depth. I understand the attitude part you reference, but that game was about quality, ready to play depth. If I’m McGarity I asking Richt how they plan to better manage the number of players on the team. I’m all for the feel good story of walkons being awarded scholarships, and that will continue as players do stupid things to get shown the door, but it’s clear to me that the roster is too thin and has too many kids that should be playing FCS instead of SEC football. Part of that is the coaches had to play with what was dealt by poor evaluation, coaching and behavior, but Richt has to find a way to bring balance in numbers back to the squad.

+1. When guys don’t have it like it or not CMR has to show ’em the door. They are taking up a scholarship and a spot on the 85 list that should go to someone else. Roster management. That is the bottom line.

I think he awarded a bunch of schollys to kids that are probably great students, do more than what is asked and weren’t good enough physically to be offered SEC scholarships.

I support Richt, but he and McGarity need to get a strategy together to eliminate the inability to fill a full roster with true scholarship players and not walk-ons that were awarded scholarships because the staff failed to get a full complement of players. It won’t eliminate the King’s and Ealey’s from fucking the numbers, but you can’t sign 20 when you need 25.

I also understand how productive the 2011 recruiting class has been and the staff did a good job putting it together. I’ll also note that it’s sad that they felt the need to call it a “Dream Team”. Richt is coaching in a state where every year could bring a “Dream Team” like haul. What made it highlighted was that Richt certainly didn’t have any “Dream Team” classes the previous three years and his rep in recruits homes have been hurt by the product on the field and his job status. Recruiting and roster management are huge if you intend to compete in this conference and our guy has to get better at it.

I agree. If the coaches can use the whipping we took yesterday as a teachable moment throughout the offseason, we’re better off going 11-3 than 11-2, because now they know just how high the bar for a MNC is, and that the 10-game streak was nice, but there’s still more work to be done.

Both Bobo and Murray were dealing with an offensive line physically challenged all night, running backs who had trouble hitting the holes faster than LSU’s linebackers closed them and receivers who couldn’t hold on to passes to save their lives.

I really doubt Murray was thinking to himself on that third down play, “I gotta do something here… Bobo’s playcalling is killing us.” He was just a kid in a pressure situation trying to make a play to help his team. It blew up. Hopefully he’ll learn from his mistake. That’s all I recognize.

I bet Murray wondered why he was handing it off up the gut on 1st and 2nd down for the 4th possession in a row, only to have Crowell/Thomas run into a wall. There are ways to neutralize D-lines, and off tackle dives and draws on 1st and 2nd down are not them.

“There are ways to neutralize D-lines”? How closely were you watching the game? It wasn’t just LSU’s d-line that was an issue. Those linebackers were obscenely fast closing down the gaps. It was clear that Georgia’s running backs weren’t prepared for that. Although to be fair, until you play against them, I’m not sure how you could be prepared.

Ok, let me change my post to “neutralize fronts”. Either way, same point. Please understand that I think LSU was a better team than the Dawgs. But, I don’t want that to be the case in a few years. I want what is best for this team, and in my (I’m a virtual nobody, but a loyal alum/fan none-the-less) opinion, Bobo ain’t it! Bobo makes top dollar, and we have proven (Grantham) that top dollar can get you a whole lot more if you pick wisely.

Bobo does not in fact make “top dollar” by OC standards (I think his salary was somewhere in the $200-250,000 range). Regardless of that fact there was nothing Bobo could do last night, the line couldn’t block after the first few series, our RB’s didn’t hit what small holes were there before they closed, and nobody was getting open against those DB’s. In order to “neutralize” aggresive defenses one would normally run screens and draws, in the case of last night the two bubble screens we ran (and a swing pass to Carlton Thomas) lost yardage, while the draws were losing yardage after the D linemen were shedding their blocks and gobbling up our guys behind the line of scrimmage. Bobo was calling the game safe in order to prevent the “big mistake” which would let LSU back in the game and unfortunately that happened anyway. There was really no other option to turn to, they were squatting on our short routes with safety help over the top. We lost to one of the best defenses in recent memory, with all the youth we have on our offense there is no shame in that.

Maybe you should try and walk on if you think that you could hit those receivers last night. They may have looked “open” but they weren’t, that is what zone coverage looks like. I saw a front 7 for LSU whipping our OLine and zone coverage to take away the outs and slants with safety help over the top.

“Peace out” yourself, Andy. You have serious flaws in your reasoning and your anti-Bobo rant. We put that crap to bed on here or perhaps you haven’t kept up very well. Your criticisms are over the top and you ignore the arguments that settled that in most fans minds a couple of months ago. Since you chose to ignore the good analytical input on here that righted the fan’s minds concerning Bobo, we should just ignore you. Everything you say in “MM QBing” can be said about any and all O coaches in D-1 ball and every college out there. Go fly your specious kite where someone who gives a damn might listen.

How’s the weight loss coming? It might get better if you dump your load of shit somewhere else.

I think the series in the second quarter where the game shifted and backed UGA up for the punt coincided with 1. LSU realizing we had no running game and turning up the heat on Murray and 2. Our offensive line (with no depth for rotation) beginning to spring leaks. Throw in what you mentioned, Senator, re: drops by our receivers and our defense playing lights out, and I don’t skewer Bobo for playing it more conservative at that point (backed up on our end of the field). Kicking to Mathieu with a short field was the more critical tactical error in my opinion.

LSU had little success running the ball in the first half. They had to keep trying it to keep our D honest. Then their longest run is finally one straght up the gut. To not keep trying to develop the ground game would be stupid for both teams. Murray would have been killed. Bobo called a good game. Very similar to the one called by the Tigers. Bobo will be the QB coach & the OC for the next few years. Nobody with any real input wants to change that. Give it a break, people.

I hope you don’t think I’m being unreasonable, but I don’t think LSU “had to keep trying it to keep our D honest.” LSU had to keep running the ball because that’s all they could do. They didn’t have another option. I think the deep passes they attempted were an effort “to keep our D honest.” They ran it over and over and over because they had no other choice. They found ways to make that work and once they found what was working they kept doing it.

They threw those deep passes so that we couldn’t just load up the box and sell out to stop the run the whole game. But they only threw 13 passes the entire game. They ran it because that’s what they do and that’s what they’re built to do. Murray wasn’t getting killed when we ran for like 34 yards in the first half and carved up LSU’s secondary passing the ball on short routes. Did Bobo call a similar game to the LSU OC? No, he didn’t. They found out they were having limited success running up the middle and tried running it outside. When that worked, they kept on doing it. We were having success on short passing routes and started running it up the middle into a loaded box. When that didn’t work, we continued to do it. We wasted downs and then threw Aaron to the wolves on 3rd and long. That was bad play-calling. After the first quarter, we shut down what was working (like in the Auburn game last year) and stopped being aggressive. From then on, we never gave ourselves a chance.

Red Blackman gets the whole picture. It all starts on the offensive line. The current interior line is not a good run blocking squad. They seem slow of the line and do not get their pads down. That being said, there is not one RB on the squad who can hit a gap and break out. Not one. Now the line can push with Samuel and Malcome. The most important player in the game is the Frosh RB for LSU, Hilliard. He is a load with speed. Yo i could tell the Dawgs D wanted nothing to do with him. I’m puzzled how over the past 3-5 years CMR has not learned what a former Auburn coach told hime one time. To win big in the SEC you had better have a solid, consistent running game. Running teams are just more physical and disciplined in a big game.

I’m back where I was last season. Think the Dawgs need a QB/RB position coach. Murray has played a lot, I mean alot of snaps, but his progression, technique, and maturity is not where it should be, and I’m not sure he can get it there. For me there is even an off field differnece between him and Mason. Mason seems to be more mature and understand the game better. Plus I think he a better passer and could manage a game better than Murray.
Will Friend and Coach T have their work cut out for them for the bowl and the off-season. Let’s see how this line can improve by bowl time. I’d recruit linemen hard along with some SEC caliber RB [hint, Lattimore, Richardson, Hilliard].

See my post below Mark only does what Bobby Bowden taught him, he is still after 11 years looking for his Warwick Dunn. We recruit midgets at running back not for a change of pace but for our running backs. None of our RB’s would be on Alabama or LSU’s 3 deep and that includes IC. We are not a power team Alabama and LSU are power teams. We are a multiple offense that if everything goes well can be effective but we are not going to line up and power the ball against good defenses period.

Lots of guys look like world beaters in high school and many work out in college but some don’t. Jasper Sanks is probably our best example. We need a running back who doesn’t get put on his ass trying to pass block and, for sure, one who can keep his mouth shut and not cost us penalty yardage when it looks like we might be getting something started on offense.

You are totally right about OL problems. We have a mediocre, albeit enormous OL, that has no depth at all.

I am not sure why you’re thinkin Mason is better than Murray. Murray set the season record for TD’s after losing the best receiver ever to play for GA to the NFL, without a decent RB, and throwing to a bunch of freshman, all whille running for his life most of the season. Mason has thrown a couple of balls in mop up duty. I’ve said this before about QB’s and Richt. He’s coached 2 Heisman winners and the winningest QB in the history of college FB (until McCoy broke his record for wins). I am betting Mason is not better than Murray. And that’s why Mason is not starting and may transfer after this season.

I am not pissed at Aaron, but before you anoint him, at least be honest and say that he lost a fumble and threw two picks. That’s three times HE gave the ball back to LSU. Don’t pin the whole loss on our line or our RBs.

We won’t since there is plenty of blame to go sround on this non-NFL team we have fielded this year. If you think that our O linemen are great(and I love all that they have tried to accomplish this season) take a look at the film in the last of the 3rd/beginning of the 4th when we were sending Malcolm up the middle . The left guard was blocking, Jones and Zander had started a push next to him, when #22 LSU came under and flipped a 300+ lb player backwards and off the line then dove left to help stop the play. What should have been a big hole got plugged by an undersize player blocking correctly by getting under the UGA lineman’s pads.
Yeah, we were tired, but it was an incorrect block on our part, no fault of others in the backfield nor the rest of the line where the play was going.

Stop the fault-finding on individual players for individual plays because, point is, there is plentyof nitpicking fault-finding to go around. And there is plenty of good fight as well. Don’t start this dumb rant that was picked apart and put to bed before. The players have owned up before and said they didn’t perform the plays as Bobo had taught and called. It is just ignorant to call this bullshit up again and watch recruits say that they hear it and go elsewhere. What in four hells are you trying to accomplish?

The fact of the matter is the Dawgs dropped 2 sure TD passes that coupled with the White TD and the “no way in hell” that should have been a punt return TD (a block in the back coupled with tossing the ball away before the goal line) would have made it 21-0 at halftime and a completely different game all together. After all the screw ups the Dawgs got down on themselves and the defensive letdowns began.

This. Who knows what happens after that but if we simply catch the passes that hit us in the hands the game is totally different. If the defense lost any focus it was because they watched as good a half of defense that anyone can play go to waste to dropped passes. If we go up 21 the defense fights and claws all the way to the end. Not sure if we win but I really love our chances at that point.

We were who we thought we were. I wrote on a blog “dawgsports” I think that I saw this game as another SCU type game. We gave it away. The drops, the fumble, the special teams play, etc same as the SCU game. Richt, God love him, only knows what Bobby Bowden taught him and Bobby never had to worry about anything but kickers. FSU’s walk-ons were fast enough for the ACC. Until he changes his hard head about Special Teams we had better score a lot of points to make up for them.

LSU was who they have been the whole year. They have no offense until their depth wears you out. They have 4 count them 4 SEC RB’s that could start for us or anybody else except for the other power Alabama. The D played there a$$es off but could not withstand the fresh legs in the second half. As long as UF and UGA don’t over sign we are screwed, it just remains to be seen if Steve can over sign enough to control the East. UA and LSU have the West and the SECCG locked up for the foreseeable future.

I just hope that there are some good OL guys that want to play ASAP but OL is the one position that takes time to build and I don’t see
us going the JUCO route on it.

“We gave it away”? You must be joking. That was *nothing* like the SC game. Yesterday’s game was like the cliche movie scene in which a 5’2″ 100lb. loser punches the schoolyard bully in the face, maybe draws a drop of blood, and then proceeds to get pummeled mercilessly. We gave nothing away. Nothing.

Wow, they had 235 yards, 95 of which came on ONE drive, yet end up with 42 points and you don’t see the parallel? The turnovers and STs blunders changed that game from a possible “last drive” game…and that is before we dropped all the passes (including the two for TDs.) We didn’t dominate the WHOLE game like we did SC, but we gave them the short fields and cheap scores.

Play calling. Called 85 plays to their 45+. They get 42 points…21 in one quarter. We get 10 off 85 snaps. That is just damn puzzling. And Bobo had said they wanted to run more plays this season. Well, he sure got that against LSU, but it did not help the scoreboard. Bobo is the most unproductive OC in the D1 football. Never put anyone in motion to get them to the edge, create space, slow the rush, gas the LSU D line and LBs to the outside.
LSU is good, but when you only get 237 yards of offense, 45+ snaps,have less than quarter of time than UGA, no first downs thru 2 quarters, and only 10 yards of rushing…how good are these guys? Not good enough for me to say they are the best yet. More so when UGA could have had 21 points and that lead going into the 2nd half. Have that with a running game and the SECCG belongs to the Dawgs. Plus, I’m amazed how many missed honey boys fumble through the end zone. I told my grandson he did not score because the ball did not cross the line. Now why did it take so long for the coaches, TV, announcers, and every freaking body else not to see that.
Frankly, I’m for moving the game out of Atlanta and the Dome. Shame a faciltiy is as bad as this hosts a SEC championship game. Metor Atlanta does not deserve to host the game anymore. Move the game back into the conference, not an ACC site. I’d been for playing it in Baton Rouge or the home field of the highest rank team of the divison champs. CMR has better success outside the Dome.

Is it just me or does it seem that all of a sudden the “2-personality fans” are showing up again? It’s like their negative presonalities don’t want to understand what has already been resolved and now they chip in as if they have been laying in wait.

Loved the defense in the first half, what a bunch of warriors! We lost, but I like the direction the team is going in and I hope McGarity somehow lets the recruits know that Richt will still be here for years to come. Gotta get this next class signed, the Dream Team has already made an impact, need to get another stellar class.

Call me crazy but we may look back on this season and this game as exactly what our program needed when we needed it. The season to make the program and fans believe again and the game as a reality check as to what we still need to do to go from good to elite. Does it suck to watch one of arguably the best college teams ever just come back and embarass you? yes. But it does not diminsh the path we took to get here. This team has the ingredients to be great again and I am doubtful they will lay an egg in the bowl game or “quit”. Starting 0-2 then relling off 10 straight shows moxie, talent, and most of all fight and resolve regardless of how your schedule is perceived. There’s work to be done for sure but to state this year was an abberation is an insult to a team full of damn good dawgs.

I think it’s going to be hard to finish as you say while other schools oversign and we do not. When a school as LSU has quality depth three and four deep, that makes it tough. We don’t have that and it shows and makes it difficult to compete on their level. I know, beating a dead horse but it is what it is.

I saw a really young team yesterday. My biggest disappointment is that the score wasn’t as indicative of the effort that I thought our guys put up. We really were playing four offensive guards yesterday, and we have to do something about consistency in our RB position. If we can do that we definitely have a bright season ahead next year.

Honestly, I´m VERY happy we played this game. For one, we dominated the best team in the country for 30 minutes. The coaches had a winning game plan. We couldn´t execute it for 60 minutes against a team with a 6-deep of 1st-rounders at every position, but did you see that defense? And those open receivers? There´s plenty to build on there.

More importantly, our young team was able experience elite competition. Nothing increases focus and motivation like getting your whatchamacallit handed to you. This game, and the reality check it provided, will be bugging our players and coaches throughout the off-season. To me, that´s a good thing.

And I´ll say it again: it´s great to be a Georgia Bulldog! Auf geht´s Bulldoggen!

I understand Mason gets mop-up play. But his performance in the fourth quarter was good. I think he sees the field better, gets the ball out quicker, and is as accurate. We know Murray was second string to Mettenburge before his off field issues. But I can not put any reliance on an OC decision making and judgment based on his play selection in the first few series in the 3rd quarter. That was an embarrassment. If you do not think so, then consult the 18 rankings in the polls. Bobo and McClendon are some of the most tenured coaches on staff. Granted the O numbers improved, but when you look at Murray’s performance against Carolina, Boise, LSU, Kentucky…well, I am all in with Ben Dukes.
But let’s discuss the play book. When LSU went man up on the WR and TE well, that sealed Bobo. They could not get downfield and the line could not hold their DL and LB out. They killed the timing on pass plays. That is why they started to the shorter routes. Now do you not think going in [game plan] you expect that from Chavis. Georgia’s receivers go get the ball, b ut LSU out played them for most of them. But Murray has had 2 full seasons to develop. How many will it take him? Because under the current scheme and coaching it will not go forward. Murray had numbers against Auburn and Tech. Hell Alabama passed at will on Auburn. And anybody can throw on Tech. Those games were not accomplishments. The running game. heck most of us have gave up on that….none for 3 seaons. Martinez was an issue on D and it took CMR 3 years to get around to that change but only after pressure. No, the LSU game was a game not only to win but to show recruits you have an OC and RB coach to move up your
play. Did not happen. Wait on Friend to see what another year produces, .

I usually think that your posts are scattershot, but that you make a lot of good points. But your fixation on Murray in this comment thread is absurd. When was Murray second string to Mett? I don’t recall ever seeing any indication of that in the offseason, regular season or G-day game. I’m sorry, but if Mason was better than Murray, he would be starting. There has never been a time in Richt’s tenure when he consistently started the less capable of two quarterbacks. But, as always, the guy on the bench looks better (even if the starter is likely to be All-SEC, apparently).

Will, before last season started, I had that argument with Hale and it amounted to “stop the posturing for Murray to start and let good ole competition decide it with Mett”. Unfortunately, Mett did himself in and noone influenced the outcome except Mett. That is long gone water under the bridge. Whether one is better on the playing field than the other will probably be measured next year when Mett is the QB for LSU.

Not to say that Murray is a darn good QB is disingenuous at this point. Add a great heart, Bulldog courage , leadership and a quality person and we have our Dawg of Dawgs who can take a lick and keep on…. . He has shown resolve when we needed it, great skill when throwing to Freshmen in their first year of SEC play and attitude galore. So is he a few ticks shy of perfection and did we propose that he would stack even higher his Soph year? Yeah. You seem to forget last year when he ran down the sideline and dove in the endzone and fearlessly endured the dizzying hits in the Auburn and other games. Give me this indestructable man all last year, this year and for the future. He will work on the things you feel leaves him shy of perfection and the Second Coming (and he already is half qualified there by birth). Patience with him has been well earned. Let’s try to line up with him and go after “their” ass. That’s the least he deserves.

No one wants to be the super QB that can and will lead us to a NC than Murray. To compare with other QBs-in-waiting is folly. We don’t know if they could take the licks or fail entirely where he has already proven himself. We need to quit worrying whether QB#2 or #3 will not wait patiently for their perceived chance. If they do or don’t wait has nothing to do with Murray and his abilities. As I remember he came in as a 5-star vs Mason as a 3-star. Hell, we have another 4 or 5-star waiting in the wings (LeMay). Do you wish to put Mason above him? Mason will do what he has to do for his future and whatever he chooses, I have no argument. But to compare him with Murray at this point is a no-brainer and I sure hope Mason stays to duke it out next year.

“Hell, Alabama passed at will on Auburn.” A flea-flicker and a misdirection TE throwback are trick and constraint plays. By definition, they´re the opposite of passing “at will.” The same applies to 3- to 5-yard TE out routes and RB screens.

Hard fought game and UGA gave their best shot. The miscues and drops have got to be frustrating, though.

Unrelated, though, what is the whole story behind Grantham’s lip thing at the second half? Tracy said hip had a bloody lip but the shots of him looked like he was wearing Lady Gaga lipstick in the second half….wtf

Hard to blame the coaches or the players they got wore out by a deeper team So did a few other teams this year). The game plan to start was pefection but as the game wore on it played into LSUs hands and with the depth they have due to oversigning and lack of attrition. I know I have been critical of IC but was glad to see him give it a go with a bum ankle. The oline played hard to begin with but that Dline has given everyone fits all year.
Give Grantham’s agent a call and do what it takes to keep him happy.
Bobo ‘s future should be decided by someone that knows more about football than me. Sometimes he looks good and sometimes, well not so much.

At the top of my Christmas list for UGA is an OC who is the offensive equivalent to Todd Grantham. I think Richt’s loyal-to-a-fault history makes it unlikely that I’ll get my wish, but I can still dream.

Ga Girl, just to fill you in…if you dislike Bobo, you cannot be a Dawg fan. It’s a rule. Balls said so. It’s all bullshit too, even if you’ve posted valid arguments. Wait, never mind, nothing is valid if it doesn’t concur with Balls’ own opinion. He’ll just curse at you and call you names on his computer. You know, the way grown-ups debate.

UGA was beaten by a better team. That is the game in a nutshell. LSU did not expect the passing attack but they caught on and dropped their safeties back. They have probably the best D backfield in college football and lots of depth on D, so Bobo saw fewer hats in the box and tried to get the running game going. When you can’t run the ball and you are in the shadow of your own goalpost and all those ballhawks back there are licking their chops and waiting for you to throw you are in trouble. To me UGa’s biggest areas to improve are special teams, Rbs and O line. Then depth on the D line. LBs and DBs seem set.

Bobo did not drop the balls throw to him,he did what any person with good sense would do. He went to another rout when at least two maybe three touchdowns were left on the ground with drop problem. The game plan had nothing wrong with it. The youth and nerve problems and etc will have to wait. The bigger problem we have now is driving from the back seat and gripes with every breath. We need to appreciate this years efforts instead of crying all the time. It gets old and hurts the program.

1- Coaches should have never punted to Tyrone. Kick it out of bounds. There’s 14 points we gave away.

2- Murray’s meltdowns continue, missed several wide open receivers (I counted 10), and threw in 2 intereceptions and a fumble. This is getting old, and I am tired of watching a great team unravel because of Murray’s boneheaded plays and decision and inaccurate throws.

We should have either gone with Malcome or Smith at running back, the whole game, maybe both. It was our only shot. We were not prepared. Thomas and Crowell did nothing. Had to have a better plan than that. Bobo’s plan seemed to be pass every play, Chavis adjusted to that after the first quarter, and we nevber scored again. Did you watch the 2nd-4th quarters? Who made better adjustments? Wasn’t Bobo. It’s not who has the best first half. It’s who makes the best adjustments and who has the best game plan and backup game plan. Along with Murray’s inability to execute passes to wide open receivers, and punting the ball all game to a Heisman candidate, we deserved to lose.

1. No reason why a program like Georgia shouldn’t have more depth on the o-line, year in and year out – sorry, I just don’t get it. We’re acting like it’s a fact of nature or the result of a lottery or something that we don’t have more o-linemen ready to go.

2. I don’t know how much you pin on the o-line and depth, but the fact is that Murray gave it away three times yesterday. A lot of players may not look ready for prime time, but you put them on the field and they make it happen. I am a huge A. Murray fan, I really am, but I think it’s time to let Mason take every third or fourth series.

3. I’m not a Bobo hater, but after the creative, inventive first quarter, we went back to throw the bomb and run the draw what seemed like every single play. I’m not sure we tried to throw a 10 or 15 yard pass in the 2nd quarter. Maybe he dialed them up and they were covered, but I was heartsick every time I saw #1 in the game as the lone back in in the backfield. I do not understand not bringing in Tree and Figgins to lead the way in a power I running game at that point.

Here’s the deal – we keep saying “Once we found out we couldn’t run on them” or “after our o-line got gassed” – to let Bobo off the hook, as though these are surprises. The whole point of having an OC is so he can evaluate where our team’s strengths can be stressed and our weaknesses can be minimized vs our opponent. It may be that there was no way to beat LSU yesterday, but handing Crowell the ball so he could stand in the backfield waiting to get hit (rinse, repeat, x 50) is not really dialing it up, is it? I have given Bobo credit for calling a great game in the first quarter, but he kept doing the same thing over and over in the 2nd quarter, with predictable results. In fairness, we dropped a lot of passes, but you have to keep working.
4. Not sure I’ve seen anyone mention this, but I believe our D really fell apart when LSU started running the option. I thought that was as big a factor as the stupid punt returns. We had no answer for that.

Spurrier & Sean Payton come to mind immediately. Spurrier goes with what he’s dealt better than them all. He even knows when its the RIGHT time to go conservative. Of course no one is perfect. Id have to do some major research to find who fits the mold that UGA could coral.

You’ve called me out. How long do I have to research? I love so many spread guys, but it scares me to go all spread in the SEC. I love our current scheme of pro set base with spread undertones. I’ll put up a post on my blog this week of my wife, work, and the youngin’s don’t get in the way. They always come first!

Richt’s not gonna go spread. And to be honest with you, I’m not convinced you can win the current version of the SEC running the spread unless you’ve got a freak at QB. There are way too many dominant defensive teams.

WVU punted, LSU scored. WVU gets a good 3rd and long conversion, but fumbles and LSU gets the ball. WVU forces them to punt. WVU gets a good drive going and throws a pick and LSU scores. Then WVU drives down and scores down 13-7. Looking good and LSU hits a deep pass (one of their few all year) and goes up 20-7. Then a pick returned to the 1 and it’s soon 27-7 LSU. WVU’s Offense makes some good adjustments and comes out and scores twice. Now it’s 27-21. About to be a game… 99 KO return for a TD. 34-21 WVU gets the ball and a TO on downs early in the 4th on 4th and 3. LSU gets the ball back and scores 40-21. WVU driving… fumbles and LSU goes down and scores again. 47-21.

Actually kind of similar to our game except that WVU continued to have success. Killed themselves on offensive mistakes and ST errors. But Holgerson’s offense was moving the ball on LSU. without stupid turnovers, they likely would’ve kept on scoring. we had our stupid turnovers… but we had long since given up on scoring.

i think there are other offenses that would be plenty successful in the SEC.

I just think that people don’t know at this point. I wonder what a school like Florida/Bama/LSU/Georgia would do with a good DC, a good recruiting coordinator and Mike Leach. The SEC schools have the best players and best position coaches/coordinators. But the quirky offensive guys haven’t often been given a fair shake in the SEC. Al Borges and Tony Franklin are NOT Dana Holgerson or Mike Leach IMO (as far as talent, innovation, etc.) They’re not even Kevin Sumlin.

Just like the argument that the Air Raid (and similar offenses) could never succeed in the NFL… I really wonder. Maybe if they were given a few years and some serious talent, they could. West Virginia is going to keep getting better, but they won’t be in the position to consistently compete with the SEC elite because it’s WVU. They won’t have the players. They won’t have the defensive staff. If Florida runs Muschamp out on a rail in 3 years and they hire Holgerson and a competent defensive staff, who knows what will happen? Those guys have never been in that position because the general thinking has always been “it won’t work.” People said that about Urban’s system. Maybe Urban had to have Mullen and Tebow to make things work. Maybe he’s going to OSU because Braxton Miller is there and he’ll leave in 3 years when Braxton finishes up.

I see your point about the one game thing, but… I’m not sure that means that those other systems *couldn’t* be successful. We’ve only ever even seen those systems played by lesser teams against the SEC elite in games like the WVU/LSU game this year or in BCS games. If Leach were going to a big school (and maybe he will be in a few years), maybe we’d have a better idea. The highest I can remember these guys being is at Kentucky (Mumme/Leach), or Leach being the OC at Oklahoma in Stoops’s first year. Have they gone and failed somewhere else at a big time school?

Did people think Spurrier’s offensive philosophy wouldn’t work when he went to Florida? I’m not old enough to know, honestly. Did people say that SEC defenses were too physical and too good for his offense to succeed throwing the ball all over the place? That’s an honest question, not a rhetorical or sarcastic one.

But, even with all that… I’m not saying we have to switch schemes. I’m actually not even on the side that Bobo is terrible at his job. I just think that there’s a pretty good chance that we could hire someone better and that UGA should have the best coordinators we can possibly. The defensive staff seems to be much better at their jobs than the offensive staff is currently. And I don’t see how we can justify that. Again, I’m not blaming Bobo entirely or anything. I just think that we could do better.

Do you honestly think that if Richt went after a new OC the same way he went after a new DC (and staff) that we wouldn’t improve on offense?

If Bobo is as inept as you say and he clearly needs to go, it would seem as though you could readily produce any number of better candidates. Candidates who are not active NFL head coaches that have won a Super Bowl or an active SEC head coach who has won a MNC.

I didn’t have to know the perfect replacement back when I knew Martinez needed to be fired. I was on this very blog saying it for years while defenders said it was fine. Its no different now with Bobo than it was then with Martinez.

The worst counter argument of all is “if he’s so bad, who do we replace him with.”

How the heck is that my job to know? I have my own job and life. I watch the Bulldogs and I watch maybe 15 or 20 other college games a year. I don’t watch 200. That’s McGarity and his staff’s job.

So let me get this straight…..you KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bobo sucks. I mean his awful and an affront to football loving people everywhere, but yet you can’t name one guy to replace him. If you can’t name one replacement on what are you basing the criteria for which you use to judge Bobo’s performance?

If he’s anything like most of us, his family and job get in the way of memorizing potential OC candidates names. Most of my spare football reading and watching time is given to all things Dawgs. I do watch hundreds of high school, college, and NFL games each year, but shockingly I don’t know but a handful of OC’s by name. Most of them would be impossible to get, so give me a day or two to write piece on potential candidates. Then you can call me names all you want! Like Neal Boortz always says, “if I had a dollar for every time I heard ‘you’re an idiot’…..”

My point is that both of you (hmmmm….maybe it’s just you posting under two names) seem to have this raging hatred for Bobo but you offer no alternative. You can’t even say why type of offensive philosophy you would replace him with. If you can offer a viable and realistic (realistic being the key word) but I am betting you can’t. Look I was all over Bobo the past two seasons for his playcalling and inability to adjust to what the defense was giving him, this year starting with the S.Carolina game he has turned the corner. I think that every game since (to include last night) has had a solid offensive game plan. The execution has been lacking in some areas but the plan has been solid. When you have a patch work Offensive line and zero depth at the RB position it kind of limits what you can call and where on the field you can call it. There are going to be some head scratching calls but there are for every OC in every game. There were a few in the Falcons game today and I don’t hear anyone calling for him to be fired. Statistics are the only way to compare Bobo’s performance to everyone else’s and based on that I would say he is doing a good job. Before you or someone else trots out the “he pads his stats against the crappy teams” I am using only SEC numbers and guess what…..all the OC’s pad their stats against crappy teams. Why the hell do you think Tebow played into the 4th quarter in blowouts? Stat padding to win the Heisman.

Let’s stay on this. It is one thing to have an opinion, but if someone is attributing quotes that are made up just to support that opinion that is a real issue for the credibility of the blog for you Senator. I may have made some different calls during the game,, perhaps used different personnel packages, but I saw nothing that indicated the offense backed off. And if Bobo said something that dumb in a game we never led confortably, then maybe he does need to go…I just don’t believe it in the context it was quoted. Our problem was lack of OL blocking, period, and it has been for years.

I argue with muckbeast on here quite often (though sometimes it’s all internalized and I resist the temptation to actually post about it), but Bobo has said in post-game interviews that he slowed down the offense because the defense was playing so well and he didn’t want to risk us making a mistake on offense.

That has, many times, explicitly been his plan this year.

I do see how “don’t screw this up for the defense” is different from “stop scoring and hope the defense wins it” in theory. But in practice… they sure do look a lot alike.

Just a quick hypothetical: if the offense were scoring quite a bit, and the defense (as I said hypothetically) could choose between playing hard and trying to keep the other team from scoring or just let them burn 5 minutes and kick a FG every time they had the ball… would it be ok for them to just let the other team kick those field goals? Or would we still want them to try to force turnovers and get stops? If the defense’s goal was to simply limit mistakes and not do something that could cost us the game ASSUMING the offense continued to play lights out, would we be happy with the defense?

The offense has relied on the defense to help us win close games by not letting the other team score a single point in the second half while the offense has been useless for long stretches. How is that fair? That kind of game turns into a blowout win for teams who produce on both sides of the ball.

“I can’t cook, but I know if the food in front of me tastes like shit.”

Just like you know that your gay a$$ hovercard is shit, but you fail to replace it? In all due respect Muckbeast, you and Andy’s argument about this is as compelling as a two year old child’s attempt to speak on the subject. You both can’t name a single coordinator that you’d rather have, you both ignore the stats that prove Bobo is one of the better OC’s in the conference (which is an NFL talent rich defensive conference), and Bobo is a disciple of coach Richt and, as such, runs the offense under the philosophy of Richt. So, honestly, just enjoy the turnaround this year for what it was and send in your donation and ticket money next month and if you don’t contribute any money then maybe it wouldn’t hurt you two to shut up and let the big boys handle it.

I dont typically argue using stats because of instances like throwing 5TDs in a quarter against New Mexico State. There is a place for them in some instances. I could give you 10 names off of the top of my head Id rather have as OC, but I would rather research and give readers real candidates, not pipe dreams. I told you the two best in the game in my opinion, Spurrier and Payton. Now, if you really want to hear my legitimate candidates, Ill put them on UGABlog.com within the week.

That’s a total of 25. In that time, LSU signed 4, 6, 4, 2, and 4 for a total of 20. UGA signed 25% more OL in the past five years than LSU.

Bama signed 2, 3, 7, 3 and 4 in those years (19).

The thinness of UGA’s offensive line is not because of lack of recruiting numbers. Perhaps it is talent evaluation, development, bad luck, or some combination thereof. It is NOT because of over signing.

Hopefully those that signed last year will be ready to play significantly next year along with John Theus.

Quote Of The Day

“But outside of that, the biggest advantage you can have is have good leadership, have a veteran football team, and when you’ve got that, it doesn’t matter whether you have spring practice or not. When you don’t have that, it’s tougher, when you don’t have leadership and you don’t have the experience at certain positions.”— Kirby Smart, Dawgs247, 3/31/20